STLRSignal · Tag · Link · Reference Version 0.1

STLR — Signal–Tag–Link–Reference

A simple functional framework for exploring how the human mind may work through Signals, Tags, Links, and References.

STLR asks whether one small and consistent set of components, together with the processes that act on them, can help explain memory, learning, knowledge, language, creativity, reasoning, emotion, self-awareness, and other familiar parts of mental life.

Version 0.1

STLR is not a biological description of the brain or an established scientific theory. It is an untested functional proposal and may be incomplete or wrong.

The focus of this version

Version 0.1 focuses mainly on the basic STLR components: Signals, Tags, Hard-Links, and References. It also touches on processes such as attention, matching, learning, expectation, creativity, and reasoning when they are needed to show how the components may work together.

A future version may focus more deeply on the processes operating on these components, including how the mind selects, compares, combines, prioritizes, and uses active information.

Begin with Chapter 1

Read the 26 chapters

  1. 01The STLR Framework
  2. 02Signals
  3. 03Tags
  4. 04Attention
  5. 05Hard-Links
  6. 06Reference
  7. 07How Reference Uses Content
  8. 08Memory
  9. 09Learning
  10. 10Knowledge
  11. 11Mathematics as Knowledge Islands
  12. 12Islands of Knowledge in Daily Life
  13. 13Optional Digital Extension: Transferable Knowledge Islands
  14. 14Creativity and Dreaming
  15. 15Additional Examples of Creativity
  16. 16Expectation, Bias, and Preference
  17. 17How Step-by-Step Knowledge Can Be Stored
  18. 18Reasoning
  19. 19Before Birth: Signals, Tags, and Early Hard-Links
  20. 20Children, Influence, and Preparing the Brain for New Information
  21. 21Learning the Body: Probing, Feedback, and Control
  22. 22Language and Reference: Words as References to Knowledge
  23. 23Insect, Early Human, and Modern Human
  24. 24Emotion
  25. 25Self-Awareness: When the Self Becomes a Concept
  26. 26Consciousness: What STLR Can and Cannot Describe

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